Can somebody explain how this ad is up on eBay?

[good2buy]

Was looking for a bottle of alpha lipoic acid and came across the below link.  How can this ad be up online?  Talk about an expensive bottle of ALA, which normally runs around $15 a bottle.  And its out of stock at $913.29 a bottle??

https://www.ebay.com/itm/180-Capsule-Alpha-Lipoic-Acid-High-Potency-600mg-Per-Serving-Metabolism-Mad...

[eburtonlab]

If you check the sold page, you can see that the previous buyers all paid $13.29.

Looks like the seller ran out of stock, and rather than take down the listing, changed the picture and raised the price to discourage buyers from actually buying. When the stock is replenished, the seller will change the picture back and lower the price.

[good2buy]

Interesting,  all the years I've been with eBay didnt know you could just leave an ad up if you were sold out of an item.     That would explain this.  

 Thanks much for the reply!

[missjen831]

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@good2buy wrote:

Interesting,  all the years I've been with eBay didnt know you could just leave an ad up if you were sold out of an item.     That would explain this.  

 Thanks much for the reply!

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You aren’t supposed to leave it up. It’s against policy. But many do.....they just jack up the price so high nobody will buy it.

[pburn]

Hey! I take ALA. That's a dang good price--the $13.29, not the $913.29!

[castlemagicmemories]

It's called a place holder.  Seller may put an exorbitant price on something that is out of stock, until it comes in, and then they can adjust the quantity and the price.

The idea is that no one will purchase the item at the astronomical price, and the seller does not lose the history connected to that item.  

[ilikestuff6969]

God forbid someone accidentally click on that thing!

[necessaryindulgencejewelry]

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@ilikestuff6969 wrote:

God forbid someone accidentally click on that thing!

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If someone bought it at that price, I'm sure the seller would be happy to have it drop-shipped to the buyer, or purchase and ship. It happens more often than you think when someone purchases but the seller is out of stock. When the item isn't something rare, the seller can often make arrangements that will allow him to complete the sale.